Trout of Doubt

While I was growing up in public schools, I was bullied by the other kids, who had no trouble finding ways to make fun of me and my last name.   I guess I grew into my name; as I kid I loved the Don Knotts movie, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" and I loved the movie, "Splash" (not to mention my teenage infatuation with the usually half-naked aquaman clone, "The Man from Atlantis."  I became a scuba diver, studied marine biology and worked with dolphins, all the while aware that my last name reflected my double-life; sometimes spent on land, a lot of time spent in or under the water and with a passion for things that shared that quality.

I grew into my name so well that, after all that childhood teasing, one would think I'd be happy to divorce my name after I married.   I kept Troutman as my legal name because it reminds me that I'm not the kind of person that fits in naturally to either environment, but I get along as best I can above and below, at the threshold of being and becoming something greater than the sum of my parts.